Iron stand



June 17, 1952 R, HUFFMAN 2,600,653

IRON STAND Filed Aug. 16, 1946 Patented June 17, 1952 UNITED STATES QFFICE IRON STAND Application August 16, 1946, Serial No. 690,948

Claims. (01. 248-1175) My present invention relates to an iron stand and particularly one adapted for supporting an iron'either in upright position or upended position.

One object of the invention is to provide an iron stand particularly adapted for steam irons and inexpensively constructed of rod material.

Another object is to provide a stand having a grate-like supporting surface surrounded by a confining flange formed of rod material, certain cross members of the grate-like support terminating in depending legs for supporting the gratelike member spaced above an ironing board or other surface.

Still another object is to provide a steam iron stand that will retain a steam iron in an upended position with steam issuing therefrom so that garments or portions of garments can be held adjacent the steam discharge openings for steaming such garments or portions thereof.

A further object is to provide a pivoted handleholding member adapted to assume an inoperative'position when the steam iron is upright on the stand or a position for engaging the handle of the iron when the iron is upended, the holding member being operable at that time to prevent the iron from tipping sidewise and falling off the stand.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my device whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view of an iron stand embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is side elevation thereof showing a steam iron in upright position thereon;

Figure 3 is a side elevation with a portion of the stand broken away and showing the iron upended on the stand, and

Figures 4 and 5 are sectional views of the line 4-4 and 5-5 of Figures 2 and 3 respectively showing'a handle engaging member in a lowered inoperative position" and in a raised operative position respectively.

On the accompanying drawings I have used the reference character S to indicate my iron stand in general and A a steam iron for which the stand is particularly designed. The stand S comprises a grate-like member composed of rods l0, l2 and M. The ends of the rods l2 and [4 are secured to an iron surrounding flange l6 which is also made of rod-like material, and the rod I0 is bent U-shape with the two arms secured to the flange 16 adjacent the front and rear thereof and extending beyond the front of the flange and depending as at l8 to form a foot.

I provide two other feet 20 which are part of a rod 22 arranged double as shown in Figure l. and secured to the flange l6 and the rods l0, l2 and IA. The manner of securing is immaterial, but spot welding is satisfactory and economical. The rod [6 is preferably shaped approximately like the outline of the sole plate of the iron A, which outline is shown by dotted lines in Figure 1 with some clearance all around the edge of the sole plate.

An iron-handle holder H is provided which is also formed of rod material and bent to the shape shown on the drawings. The holder H includes a pair of arms 24 with a bearing portion 26 between them and bearing portions 28 beyond the arms. The bearing portions 28 terminate in stop arms 30 at approximately right angles to the arms 24 as shown in Figures 2 and 3.

The arms 24 may assume a supine or inoperative position as in Figures 1, 2 and 4 or an upstanding operative position as shown in Figures 3 and 5 where they are operative to engage the sides of the handle 32 of the iron A and prevent it from tipping sidewise. In this position, the terminal ends of the stop arms 30 engage the rod I0 as shown in Figure 5, while in the supine position of Fi ure 2, the handle engaging arms 24 are out of the way of the iron when placed upright on the stand.

When the iron is in the upended position of Figure 3 a rearward projection 34 of the handle 32 assumes a position between the two lateral runs of the rod 22 as shown in Figure 3 and by dotted lines in Figure 1 thus cooperating with the arms 24 engaging the handle 32 to hold the steam iron in a properly inclined position. This is important in connection with a steam iron as the position must be related to the design of the boiler to prevent leakage and assure proper operation when in the upended position.

With respect to a steam iron in the upended position, this is very desirable when the user wants to steam a garment or a portion thereof without ironing it. By providing an iron stand which holds the iron in the position of Figure 3, the steam issuing as at 36 from the steam discharge holes in the sole plate will impinge against any garment held close to the sole plate. This is much handier than trying to hold the iron in the hand when steaming a garment at a time that ironing of the garment is not desirable.

For supporting the handle holder H so that it can be swung to either the position shown in Figure 2 or the position shown in Figure 3, I provide bearing members 38 in the form of short straps which are spot welded to the bottom of the rods I0, I2 and I4.

The entire construction is quite simple to form and assemble, and inexpensive to manufacture. The resulting stand is convenient for the steam iron in either an upright or an upended position as desired.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my steam iron stand without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a steam iron stand, a grate-like support formed of rod material with some of the rods having depending portions serving as legs to space the support above a supporting surface, and a handle engaging member pivotally mounted on said grate-like support for movement to an upright position to engage the handle of an iron when upended on said stand and prevent sidewise tilting movement thereof, some of said rod like elements providing a socket to receive a projection from said iron handle to predeter- 4 mine the angle of inclination of the iron relative to the stand when the iron is so upended, said handle engaging member being capable of assuming a supine position relative to said support where it does not interfere with the sole plate of an iron positioned in upright position on said support.

2. In a steam iron stand, a platform for supporting an iron when positioned upright thereon, said platform having a heel end and a toe end, a selectively operable means projecting above said stand or lying wholly below its upper surface for engaging the iron to retain it in up-ended position against falling sidewise or permitting upright positioning of the iron on the stand respectively, said platform adjacent its heel end having a portion depressed below the plane of said platform adapted to supportingly engage a portion of the iron to predetermine the angle of inclination of the iron relative to the stand when the iron is so up-ended, said selectively operable means being mounted on said stand between said depressed portion and the toe end of said platform and closer to the depressed portion than to the toe end of said platform.

3. A stand comprising a support element having a heel end and a toe end, a single U-shaped member the arms of which are adapted for engaging opposite sides of an iron when the iron is up-ended on said stand, said U-shaped member being pivoted to said stand for selectively positioning either upright or supine in relation thereto, said U-shaped member, when positioned supine, lying wholly below the upper surface of said support element, said support element having a portion therein adjacent the heel end of said element depressed below the plane of said support element for engaging a portion of the iron handle to determine the angle of the iron when up-ended on said stand, said U-shaped member being positioned upon said support element between the depressed portion therein and the toe end of said element and closer to the depressed portion than to the toe end of said element.

4. In a steam iron stand, a grate-like support having a heel end and a toe end and formed of rod material with some of the rods having depended portions providing a plurality of supporting means to space the support above a supporting surface, said suporting means being positioned near the heel end and toe end of said grate-like support, a handle engaging member pivotally mounted on said grate-like support for movement to an upright position to engage the handle of an iron when up-ended on said stand and prevent sidewise tilting movement thereof, said handle engaging member being positioned upon said grate-like support between the supporting means adjacent the heel and the supporting means adjacent the toe and closer to the heel supporting means than to the toe supporting leg, some of said rod-like elements providing a socket to receive a projection from said iron handle to predetermine the angle of inclination of the iron relative to the stand when the iron is soup-ended, and said handle engaging member being capable of assuming a supine position relative to said support where it does not interfere with the sole plate of an iron positioned in upright position on said support.

5. In a steam iron stand, a grate-like support formed of rod material, a handle engaging member pivotally mounted on said grate-like support for movement to an upright position to engage the handle of an iron when up-ended on said stand and prevent sidewise tilting movement thereof, some of said rod-like elements providing a socket to receive a projection from said iron handle to predetermine the angle of inclination of the iron relative to the stand when the iron 18 so up-ended, said handle engaging member being capable of assuming a supine position relative to said support where it does not interfere with the sole plate of an iron positioned in upright position on said support.

RUSSELL I. HUFFMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in th file of this patent: 6

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

